Cold Goats Farm Follows A Sustainable Model

HADDAM — — As the shearing season at Cold Goats Farm winds down, Vivienne McGarry is busy transforming the fleece and mohair produced by her sheep and angora goats into textiles for local knitters, spinners and fiber artists.

McGarry's animals, named after flowering herbs and spices such as vetch, edelweiss and cinnamon, provide her with a regular supply of product and a deep satisfaction in knowing they're helping her preserve her land and continue a farming tradition.

"There is such value in keeping farms and open space," said McGarry, who runs the 5-acre farm in the town's Haddam Neck section with her husband, Bob. "People need it as a de-stressor, whether It's going for a walk, a drive, a jog — whatever — I think it's a really important thing. Some people just don't understand the value of green space."

In a full-circle process, the McGarrys give as much back to the land as they take. By rotating the use of their fields, the soil is less stressed. The hay they feed their animals is purchased from a neighbor, who harvests it from his own fields. The couple stores it for winter use in the farm's sturdy 1850s-era barn, which they refurbished with a new roof and supportive beams.

"It's good for everybody to buy locally. It's less expensive for us. We can take it off the field when it's ready, so there's no middleman," she said. "And it keeps that hayfield as open space."

Their sheep and goats keep poison ivy, barberry, bittersweet and other invasive plants at bay and help fertilize the farm's garden beds. By breeding the goats with their neighbor's goats, adjoining land is used for grazing and offspring are produced.

"We have an arrangement," McGarry said of her neighbor, Mary Ellis. "She wants to keep her fields open and she enjoys the animals and we need to breed ours. We also use solar panels, which we put in her field because we can move them around."

Steven K. Reviczky, executive director of the Connecticut Farm Bureau, said people like the McGarrys may be one reason farming appears to be on the rise in the state.

"Our membership is growing again," Reviczky said. "It had gone through a period of decline and now we are a growing organization again. There is a renewed interest in local — where people are getting their food from, where people are getting other farm products from. People don't want their food and products traveling 1,500 miles to get to them."

The McGarrys' collection of animals began with a pony for their daughter. They added a goat to serve as a friend, McGarry said, but the pony had no interest in companionship.

"So we got another goat, and another, and it kept going," she said. "The moral of the story? When your daughter asks you for a pony, you say no!"

McGarry adopted several angora goats and now the farm is home to 12 goats, three sheep, the original pony and two dogs. They also keep chickens, which range freely, eating bugs and producing fresh eggs.

Bob McGarry is the shearer, a skill he mostly enjoys depending on the animal — a flailing hoof of a nervous goat or sheep can be an occupational hazard, he said. Retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and currently working for the state's Department of Motor Vehicles, Bob is used to being outdoors.

"I enjoy it, more days than not, working out in the mornings, doing the chores, particularly on those fall mornings," he said. "Our house was originally a farmhouse and to me it's nice to see the fields used again instead of letting them go back to forest."

He also enjoys watching his wife transform the animal's fibers into something new. After she washes the fleece, she might dye it or card it, a process that detangles the fibers in preparation for spinning. A spinner, weaver and knitter, she also supports local spinners by hiring them to produce some of the yarn.

Inside their Federal-style home, bundles of freshly dyed fleece in vibrant hues await processing. A wooden loom contains a half-finished creation and skeins of thick yarn hang from pegs on the wall, along with samples of ponchos, hats, scarves and decorative items Vivienne McGarry made to sell at a local farmer's markets or fiber festivals. McGarry's goal is for potential customers to be inspired by her crafts, buy her yarn and use it for their own creations.

"I want to raise the animals and produce products from them and eventually make enough money to make the farm self-sustaining," she said. "It's fulfilling. You are taking a raw product and making something that is beautiful that people can appreciate."